On Opium and Imperialism: The Flag Under Which the Empire Sails May No Longer Be the Union Jack

Reflections on Amitav Ghosh’s Gun Island by Nakul Heroor.

Amitav Ghosh in Munich: Inspirations, Insights, and Storytelling

In the fall of 2024, Amitav Ghosh visited the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society as part of the project “One Book—Many Worlds: Munich Reads Gun Island by Amitav Ghosh.” This exhibition emerges from the multifaceted discussion of climate change and its challenges conducted in the “One Book—Many Worlds” project and grapples with the question of the role of literary fiction in interdisciplinary academic exchange and climate communication beyond academia. Taking Amitav Ghosh’s recent writings on the global climate crisis, in particular the novel Gun Island, as a vantage point, the chapters in this exhibition engage with various aspects Gun Island from different disciplinary perspectives, drawing on storylines and narrative elements that allow a multifocal engagement with different social and ecological repercussions of climate change. Additionally, pieces from the spring 2025 taumelnd trauen, verschlungen bleiben student exhibition and winning and honorable mentions from the 2025 “Tell the Untold!” writing competition take the provocation to think creatively about the past and future of our environment and world further. Thereby, the exhibition chapters create a web of diverse thoughts on and readings of the role of storytelling for the contemporary interlinked social and environmental crises from a number of perspectives.

About This Exhibition

About the author

Heroor, Nakul

Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, LMU Munich, Germany

Nakul Heroor is a doctoral candidate at the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society. He holds a bachelor’s in computer engineering and two master’s—in economics from the Delhi School of Economics, and in logic and philosophy of science from LMU Munich. A common thread that weaves his studies together is his enduring engagement with topics related to ecology and climate change. His PhD project sits at the confluence of his interests in epistemological questions concerning environmental and ecological thought and his engagement with literature.

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Only the Dunes Could

A reflection on dunes and war by André Kirouac.

Once Upon a Dune: Coastal (Hi)Stories

In April 2024, during a workshop at the School of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon, specialists from different countries and backgrounds talked about dunes. In addition to the scientific topics presented, we discussed how to make our work more compelling and accessible to a wider audience. We wanted to share our plural views on coastal issues and the importance of taking this diversity into account when managing for the future, because beaches are made up of sea and sand, but also of people’s expectations and choices. This exhibition is our way to do this. Each of us has chosen an image/object that represents our personal connection with the coast. We do not want to present results or conclusions; as in a museum or art gallery, it is up to you to find meaning and to write your own script based on your impressions.

About the Exhibition

About the author

Kirouac, André

André Kirouac is a recognized specialist in Canadian naval and maritime history from the seventeenth century to the Second World War. Now retired, Mr. Kirouac spent 23 years as director of the Naval Museum of Quebec, one of the five national museums of the Royal Canadian Navy. Prior to that, he was responsible for interpretation services at the Place Royale historic site in Quebec City, the berceau de l’Amérique française. His career spanning nearly fifty years in museology has given him a vast knowledge in his field of expertise. Over the years, André Kirouac has developed a unique approach to museology and history. An approach that aims to raise public awareness of the contemporary impact of past historical events, the values of peace and better living in society.

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Dear Optimistic Future Self

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Perspectives Issue 2014/6

Cameron Muir’s letter explores the struggle to maintain hope amid despair, emphasizing the need to confront harsh realities rather than seek comfort in narratives.

Links Between State Power and Tree Species: Black Locust in Central Europe

by Róbert Balogh

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Arcadia, Spring 2025, no. 2

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“Rivers as Battlefields: Ukraine’s Dnipro”

Ukraine’s Dnipro River and nearby inhabitants have lived through brute-force environmental change and war over the last century.

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“Apartheid’s Baboons: How the State Weaponised Animal Bodies”

Lunchtime Colloquium at the Rachel Carson Center with Sandra Swart.

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Massive Body Loss (website)

This website is an open-access data-visualization project documenting events that caused massive body loss in and around Turkey in the last century.

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Constructing Postconflict Memoryscapes: From Narratives of Division to Coexistence

by Teresa Lappe-Osthege and Jovana Diković

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Arcadia, Autumn 2023, no. 18

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What Does It Mean to Study Environments in Ukraine Now?

by Darya Tsymbalyuk

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Arcadia, Summer 2022, no. 12

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“Coal, War, and Peace in Twentieth-Century Europe”

Franz-Josef Brüggemeier outlines the history one of the most crucial energy source of twentieth-century Europe in this article. “Coal returned to center stage again and again. In both world wars, coal provided the material basis for the atrocities committed and was of decisive importance in the subsequent search for lasting peace.”

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